Unsolicited food delivery sparks safety scare, police called

A man's discovery of an unsolicited food package on his doorstep on May 7, 2025, led to a police call and has highlighted concerns about the accountability of delivery platforms.

The resident, identified as Lee, found the package hanging on his gate with no name or unit number on the receipt.

Confused, as he had not ordered any food, he contacted the delivery platform, Deliveroo. Despite clarifying he was not the customer, he was advised to "keep or dispose" of the item.

Feeling unsafe about the unknown contents of the bag, Lee called the police. Officers responded to his home, disposed of the food, and Lee filed a police report.

In an interview with Mothership, Lee recounted his attempts to resolve the issue with Deliveroo.

After being told to discard the food, he requested to speak with a manager. The customer service agent allegedly left him on hold for five minutes before Lee hung up.

Lee also filed a formal complaint with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE). However, CASE informed him via email that its role is limited to assisting with negotiation and mediation in contractual disputes.

The email from CASE stated: "We are not a regulatory or government agency and are unable to investigate or take action against the company. We also do not handle complaints regarding public health and safety, or policy reform. Since you did not pay anything to Deliveroo, your case is not under our purview."

Lee expressed his frustration to Mothership, saying: "This highlights a dangerous gap in accountability. When a private delivery company causes a safety issue for an uninvolved third party, no agency is responsible."

In subsequent communications, Deliveroo explained to Lee that it is against their policy to collect food once delivered due to hygiene reasons.

The company also noted that contacting the delivery rider for retrieval would be logistically challenging, leading to their advice to "keep or dispose" of the food. Deliveroo acknowledged the order was mistakenly delivered to Lee's address due to an operational error.

"As previously mentioned, it may not be feasible to arrange for the rider to retrieve the order due to logistical reasons, which is why our agent advised you to keep or dispose of it," a Deliveroo representative reiterated.

These explanations did not satisfy Lee. He argued that Deliveroo's response failed to address the "core issue" or demonstrate "any real accountability."

"I am not seeking compensation - only to raise awareness about how delivery mistakes are pushed onto the public, and how our current system leaves people unprotected," Lee said.

The issue of unsolicited packages is not unique to food delivery. On a Reddit post discussing the topic, user u/hannorx shared similar frustrations with misdelivered items from online shopping platforms like Shopee and Lazada.

"At first, I was happy to oblige and sent the package to the correct unit," the user wrote.

"However, the subsequent times it happened left me frustrated. What are our options for dealing with unwanted packages?"